In the following videos, development alumni from The Open University discuss how their studies enhanced their lives and careers. 

Isida Konomi works for the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, Houda Khayme was deputy director on a large USAID-funded programme in Jordan and Keith Shawe has been living in Afghanistan for 13 years working for the United Nations Development Programme.

Find out more about our MSc in Global Development

The following testimonies from postgraduate alumni will give you some idea of what you might gain from our modules and qualifications and the range of different experiences, perspectives, and interests that our students bring to their studies:

It’s taught me to analyse how and why we deliver programmes in the way we do – and work out what we should be doing. The study allows a lot of capacity for reflection, which has brought me closer, clearer interaction with partners, donors and external stakeholders such as government departments...Everything I have studied has relevance to my work.

I started the course when I was in Chad, then continued when I went to Libya, and am completing it in Haiti. The online learning means I’ve taken part in tutorials with students from all over the world. You learn by yourself but you never feel alone.

Hazel Siri
Head of sub-office in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

The MSc enabled me to understand much better the context in which I work, and to also understand better the motivations and mentalities of many other non-engineering stakeholders who are crucial to successful sustainable engineering. Although I work particularly in a development context, I believe that many of these skills and lessons can also be usefully transferred to sustainable engineering in the developed world. I consider myself both an engineer and a development manager and I believe that the combination of skills is needed to enable engineers to make a more effective contribution to sustainable development in any context.

Nick Gardner
Head of Contracts Management, United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), responsible for providing advice and direction on UNOPS

I cannot begin to tell you how much I enjoyed my MSc. I would recommend it to anyone and feel that I learned a tremendous amount during my time with the OU. I was thoroughly impressed by the content of the courses as well as the professionalism and support with which they were delivered.

My thesis was one of the best things I have ever done and taught me a great deal….What I loved most about the dissertation (and in many ways the Master’s in general) was that I was given the flexibility and confidence to investigate what interested me most.

I want to thank you all very much for helping me to gain this understanding and confidence. I could not have asked for more from the OU or for more support throughout my Master’s. I feel very proud to say that I studied with you all and I will be forever grateful.

Victoria Kasprowicz
Guatemala

Studying primarily for private enrichment proved to be a good alternative to keep sane in a ‘never ending 24/7’ humanitarian and early-recovery work…

During the course of the OU study I lost my father. Also (unlike a couple of people) I survived the cyclone Mahasin that swept over the parts of Bangladesh in late 2013. Despite all these inconveniences the OU enabled me to continue my study journey. Overall, I am grateful for the Open University development management program that simply followed me wherever I went.

Jiri Rous
Monitoring Officer, Human Rights
European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM), Georgia

During the last year or so, some of the stuff we've read with the OU has rocked my world! Made me question myself, my job, my organisation... not that I didn't question stuff before, but this time, to such an extent that I feel 'opinion-less' sometimes until I work stuff out again. I've been a front-line worker for nearly 20 years, but only ever in poor northern UK communities - I've been called many things - 'Neighbourhood Worker', 'Community Organiser', 'Community Development Officer (depending who's in power and who I'm working for) ... this MSC has confirmed how much I don't know (in a good way!).

Sharon Darnley
Quality of Life Manager
The Goodwin Trust, Hull, UK

When I started the MSc course I was working as a recruitment consultant, a job I had no love for. I started the course with the intention of trying to move into international development. Having completed just 1 or 2 modules I was able to secure a job in the Economic Development Unit of Cambridgeshire County Council where I was able to combine my private sector experience with the knowledge and skills I was developing through my studies.

My intention was to develop experience locally, given that I had no experience of working in a developing country and that the international development market is so competitive, and try and move over later. However, over the course of my studies, and through the experience I was developing in my new job, it became more and more apparent to me that there was plenty of work to be done here to help combat inequality in my own community. I have since moved on from Cambridgeshire County Council and I’m now the Senior Economic Development Manager for Opportunity Peterborough. We’re a small, private, not-for-profit company, wholly owned by Peterborough City Council, and tasked with overseeing the economic development of Peterborough.

Tom Hennessy
Peterborough, UK